Allegiance
by brighteyedcat
Summary: MystiqueStorm.  Mystique manipulates Storm while she is in mourning in order to form an alliance between them.  Story takes place postX3.  Pairing was assigned to me as part of a LJ XMen ficathon.  Femslash.
1. Chapter 1

Watching the clock as the minute hand ticked forward, clicking the hour to midnight, Raven Darkholme turned her attention back to the humans around her. She sighed as she leaned over the bar, dissatisfied and waiting. She clicked her black-painted nails by the ashtray and contemplated lighting up another cigarette to pass the time so that she could feel her mortal life drain from her. It was a strange sensation and one she had become morbidly fascinated with since she'd been shot and purged of her mutant identity. It was the only thing that reminded her that she was still alive since Erik had abandoned her to live her now expiring life as a human.

The thought of Erik never left her mind. Except instead of wanting to defend and fight along side of him, she wanted to assassinate him. Her new life was mediocre at best and the obsession of killing him for what he had done to her was the only thing that motivated her day by day. But because she couldn't use her usual methods of transformation and sneak attack, she had to bide her time and be more careful in locating him while meticulously planning her attack. Only then could she successfully execute him.

Raven lazily scanned the room and watched her clientele as they drank and laughed amongst one another. They were despicable creatures and it made her sick to her stomach to be among them, let alone serving them, but she was convinced that this was all temporary. Her only hope in this pathetic world she was now living in was that the cure would eventually wear off so she could establish herself as the new leader of the Brotherhood.

"Hey, Raven!" A gruff man called out to her from the end of the bar.

Gripping the counter with her nails and swallowing the pang of disgust in her throat, Raven turned around to the regular and acknowledged him with a bitter glare. He shook the empty beer bottle by the neck, and she complied with his unspoken request by replacing it with a new bottle on the counter.

Raven turned around to throw away the empty bottle, but stopped cold and held her breath at the sight of who was approaching the bar. It was Storm and after a worrisome glance around, Raven realized that she was alone. She was so shocked to see her that the empty bottle slipped from her hands and fell to the floor. She gasped and jumped back to avoid being cut by the flying shards of glass. As she bent over to clean up the mess she'd created, Raven nervously wondered if Storm had recognized her. Could she have known that she was Mystique beneath the pale skin and dark hair?

"Excuse me," the soft-spoken woman said, addressing the bartender hesitantly from the counter. "Can I get a drink?"

"What would you like?" Raven asked, standing up from the floor, but keeping her distance.

"Whatever you have on tap is fine," Storm replied softly, looking up from the bar and watching the bartender as her short, black skirt hitched up her thighs slightly when she leaned over the sink to fetch a clean glass.

Carefully pouring Storm a drink from the tap while watching her from the corner of her eye, Raven realized that she didn't have a clue who she was. And now that she thought about it, how could she have known? As far as Raven knew, only Wolverine was able to identify her in her many forms, but Storm didn't possess the heightened senses like him or anything similar. Nor had Storm ever seen Mystique in her original, human form.

Sliding the dark ale-filled glass down the bar until it met with Storm's hand, Raven caught the mutant's familiar, dark eyes and suddenly felt less inferior to Storm than she had before. Because of Storm's unawareness, Raven now had the upper hand despite being powerless. She took half a second to smirk at the woman knowingly and then walked to the other end of the bar to serve another waiting customer, leaving Storm alone. She anticipated letting the Mystique in her out to play but she was in no hurry to raise Storm's suspicions right away.

As Raven inattentively served her other customers, pretending to be interested in what they said to her, she thought about Storm. Here she was, the new leader of the X-Men, in her bar alone and drinking with no idea that one of her greatest adversaries was amongst her. It was deliciously ironic. Raven glanced back down the bar and watched the white-haired woman drink quietly and alone. It was obvious that she was depressed over the loss of nearly everyone she'd ever known, and in the midst of her mourning, the future of the X-Men and Xavier's Institute now rest upon her shoulders.

Mystique never understood why Storm stayed with the Professor all those years in the first place. Charles had always believed that humans and mutants could co-exist in peace, but Storm had always been mistrustful of humans and that attitude was not so different than Mystique's. Now that those who had shared Charles' naïve and ludicrous beliefs were gone, Mystique could only hope that Storm was conflicted about whether she should continue the legacy of Charles Xavier or if she should try a new, more realistic approach that was more in line with _her_ ideals.

But Raven was still a human and though she hated to admit it, she would need protection and help in order to kill Erik so that she could assume power over the Brotherhood. She knew just the mutant she could manipulate in order to fulfill that goal, but she would have to form an alliance with Storm before enticing the young Rogue to help assassinate their co-enemy. Storm was impulsively short-tempered, but if Mystique could just get her to see things from her point of view, they could be an unstoppable partnership.

She felt a sense of malicious power come over her at the thought of forming such an alliance with Storm. She licked her crimson-painted lips and was increasingly more hungry for the powerful opportunity that had just waltzed into her bar. Storm had never been more vulnerable than she was right now and Mystique thrived on others' inadequacies. Storm was so unsuspecting it was almost sexy. Raven turned around to her bar and selected one of the top shelf bourbons, poured herself a shot, and swallowed it.


	2. Chapter 2

As the evening progressed, Raven kept Storm's drinks coming as they were requested, but she did not otherwise speak with her. Storm was not interested in talking to anyone anyway, and every man that had come to speak with her, no matter how attractive or unattractive they were, was greeted with the same cold and angry response. However, one man was not taking 'no' for an answer and was as persistent in his attempts to gain her affections as she was in deflecting them. But after so long, Storm became intolerant of him and his crude advances.

"I said that I wasn't interested," she barked at the taller, dark-haired man that was hovering over her. She stood from the barstool and backed away from the counter, pacing towards him menacingly. "I don't talk for my health," she yelled, "so when I told you to leave me the hell alone, I _meant_ for you to leave me the hell alone."

"Hey, back off lady," another man said rising from the booth in the corner to defend his friend and consequently threaten her.

"Like hell I will," she said, getting angrier.

From behind the bar, Raven watched Storm threaten the men knowing that she was more than capable of handling herself and eagerly looked forward to watching her do to them what she had only dreamed of doing all these powerless months. And when she saw a flash of lightening from the corner of her eye, Raven momentarily looked to the window as thunder crashed outside before returning her attention to the mutant she knew was behind it. She poured herself another shot of bourbon and sipped it slowly, watching the beautiful Storm come undone. She looked undeniably sexy in her tight, dark jeans and though Raven couldn't hear what she was saying to the men, she knew that whatever she was saying, it was probably humiliating. It wouldn't be long until someone got hurt and Raven couldn't wait to see it. She licked the thin coating of whiskey from her lips and anticipated Storm's attack.

Not even two seconds later, Storm evoked a gust of wind at the same time that she shoved both of the men that swept them off their feet until they crashed into the chairs behind them. Their weight alone was enough to break the legs of the chairs, but with the force that erupted from Storm's instability and fierce irritation, they shattered the chairs beneath them.

Raven snickered to herself at first with a wicked grin, but then realized that any regular owner of a bar would have been upset by the damage, so she had to react in some way to the brawl. "Hey!" She yelled, albeit slightly delayed. Walking out from behind the bar, Raven approached Storm. "Get the fuck out of my bar," she demanded, but hoped that Storm would argue with her rather than cowardly walk out.

"Me? I was _defending_ myself," Storm yelled back to the tall bartender.

_Always the self-righteous bitch_, Mystique thought. She loved it. "Defending yourself? You've got a hell of a way of showing it. You're the one who's causing damage," she said throwing her hand towards the broken chairs as the men started to stand up.

"I didn't do that," Storm said worried that somehow this bartender knew she was a mutant and would throw her out for simply existing. "They're the ones that fell over when I pushed them. It's not my fault they were too drunk to remain standing. What kind of bar is this? They should be kicked out for harassing and threatening _me_!" Storm's eyes were intensely dark with frustration as her chest heaved with heavy, fuming breaths spewing out meaningless anger.

"Are you finished?" Raven responded coldly even though she was thoroughly taken by Storm's intensity. Storm didn't answer, but sighed and started to walk away until Raven stopped her by grabbing her wrist. She'd gotten Storm's attention and now she had the opportunity to show her that she wasn't like the other humans; that she could be _trusted_. She laughed to herself at the idea, but continued the pretense for the sake of her own future.

Raven looked over to the men as they prepared to sit back down in their booth. "Don't get comfortable," she snapped, pointing her thumb towards the front door behind her. "Get out." They opened their mouths to argue with her but before they could get out a word, Raven interrupted them again, louder this time. "I said get _out_!"

Slamming their beer bottles onto the table and skulking out of the bar, the two men vowed to never return. _One can only hope_, Mystique thought, offering Storm a hand back to the bar and pouring her another drink.

She slid the glass down the long table again and it stopped right beside the beautiful woman. She knew Storm must have been wondering why the bartender wasn't kicking her out, judging by the guarded look on her face. "It's on me," Raven said.

"I don't need your fucking charity," Storm sneered, smacking the glass away and sending it crashing to the floor.

Raven scoffed and then unexpectedly grabbed Storm's wrist and violently slammed it down onto the bar. "Do you _want_ me to kick you out?" Raven snapped. "Because if you keep breaking things in here, you're going to find yourself outside."

"I'm sorry," Storm apologized, cowering under the bartender's threat and realizing that she was out of control and needed to calm down. "I'll pay for it."

"Don't bother," Raven said disgustedly before releasing her. She poured Storm another drink and offered it to her again with a hint of warning in her eyes.

Storm looked up at her, curious about the bartender's behavior, but accepted the drink anyway as the woman slinked away from her to serve another customer. Storm wanted to stop her but she was already gone. So instead, she looked down into her drink and tried to focus. Logan had asked if she'd wanted company tonight, but she'd chosen to be alone. All Logan would want to do at the bar is play pool and distract her with superficial things and she needed to think. She took the Institute and the X-Men very seriously and right now, the students and everyone else was looking to her for direction. But before she could advise them on anything, she would need to find her own path and lay down a foundation for the future of the X-Men.

But now several drinks into the night, Storm realized she had done anything but consider those things, and now that she was finally being left alone, she was lonely. She glanced around the room and saw that the available options for temporary comfort were bleak except for maybe the bartender. She was definitely attractive and had been more than friendly with those coy smirks and wandering eyes, but Storm dismissed the bartender's flirting as being nothing more than a tactic to get her to drink more. She snorted to herself when she realized that it was working.

"You made quite a mess of them," Raven said over her shoulder, interrupting Storm's thoughts.

Storm shook herself awake, realizing that the bartender was looking back at her from the sink while she had been sitting there daydreaming about her. She dropped her eyes shyly, wondering if she'd been caught staring. The bartender smirked as she pushed a strand of black hair behind her ear and turned her attention back to the sink.

"I said I was sorry about that," Storm replied while watching water drip from the bartender's tapered fingers as she rinsed a few pint glasses and then set them out to dry.

"I'm not asking for an apology," Raven said, drying her hands on a rag before walking over to Storm. She leaned against the counter, which only further enticed Storm to look at her. "I wish I'd done that _weeks_ ago," Raven answered, unable to stop herself from glancing down at the "v" in Storm's silvery top. "You seemed to handle yourself pretty well against two overgrown men though."

Storm didn't answer, but she did finally look up from the bartender's hands to her eyes, catching her looking at her chest. Mystique looked up unapologetically and was trapped by the suspicious glare Storm was known for. It amused her that Storm was sizing her up, gauging whether she could trust her or not.

"So are you here waiting for some kind of revelation to fall from the sky to solve all of your problems?" Raven asked, mockingly. "Everyone seems to think that's going to happen after a few drinks and not to disappoint you, but I've never seen it happen," she said with a laugh. Storm smiled and laughed with her. Raven stretched herself further over the bar, allowing her arms to dangle over the edge so that the silver bangles around her wrists clinked together at the base of her palm.

Storm's line of sight followed the natural curve and bend up the bartender's long, pale arms. "I heard someone calling you Raven earlier; is that your name?" She asked, looking up to meet with her eyes.

"Some know me as Raven, yes," she teased.

Storm might have just been tipsy, but the inflection in Raven's voice was leading her to believe that she knew her somehow, although she had no idea how. "You're known by other names?"

"Aren't you?"

The suspicious look returned when Storm realized she might not have been correct in assessing that she was the only mutant in the bar; however, Raven didn't _seem_ like a mutant to her. She was certain she was a human. "You seem to know more about me than I know about you so I have to ask: do I know you from somewhere?"

Raven snickered and propped her elbow on the bar, resting her cheekbone upon her index finger and lining the edge of her teeth with the tip of her tongue. She weighed Storm's sincerity and tried to decide if she was willing to risk everything in telling her who she really was. "And if I say that I _do_ know you, are you going to make another scene in my bar?" She whispered.

Storm felt like a feral cat in unfamiliar territory upon realizing that this woman knew exactly who she was, but she couldn't recall how she knew the bartender. In order to remain calm, Storm convinced herself that if the woman had wanted to hurt her, she'd have done it hours ago. "What's your _real_ name?" She asked, fearful of the answer.

"It's a shame that you don't remember it," Raven mocked. "My reputation usually precedes me," she said, flashing Storm her familiarly devious smile.

"Mystique?" Storm whispered as her eyes widened in vague recognition.

"Shhh," Mystique said, taking Storm's wrist and drawing her closer so they could speak in confidence. "As much as it sickens me to ask you to use my slave name, you _will_ call me Raven in the presence of these vacuous homosapiens. Do you understand?"

Storm looked up at Raven and nodded, unsure why she was doing her any favors in the first place, but in total shock of where Mystique had been hiding out all this time. No one had heard from her since…her thoughts trailed off when she remembered that Mystique had taken the cure to protect Magneto from being shot with it. Glancing around her surroundings, she started to feel sympathetic towards her nemesis. Something else was going on though. Mutant or not Mystique always had a selfish, ulterior motive.

"What are you doing here...Raven?" She asked when Mystique released her wrist.

"Surviving," she shrugged. "I think the question is, what are _you_ doing here? All those young students looking to you for leadership and you're out alone in a dingy bar amongst your enemies?" She clicked her tongue three times as she walked from around the corner of the bar to sit next to Storm. "What were _you_ thinking, Storm?"

"Obviously, I wasn't," she replied, realizing that the woman she'd been attracted to all night was Mystique. She had always been beautiful, but her permanent human figure was undoubtedly a gift to behold. But on the other hand, Storm knew that the same sinister Mystique lay beneath that deceivingly pure, porcelain skin. "You look so different now," Storm continued, absently glancing down Mystique's long legs now that she was sitting beside her.

Raven scoffed and rolled her eyes, hating that Storm had brought it up. "I feel hideous," she replied coldly.

"You shouldn't," Storm answered. "You look really nice, Mys–" she started, "Raven," she corrected herself.

Mystique snickered at receiving such a compliment from Storm. "I prefer my former self."

"Your 'former self' had a little too much misguided anger in my opinion," Storm remarked, changing the subject and feeling safe enough to speak freely. What was Raven going to do to her in her condition? Nothing. And after all the turmoil that bitch had caused, the very least Storm could do was express her disapproval.

"You're one to talk. You think that just because you fight with the so-called 'peaceful' X-Men that you are somehow better than me? What makes you and your anger any different?"

"To start, I'm not a convicted terrorist," she argued.

"Only because Charles was able to manipulate and deceive the human population from pursuing your little group up until now," Mystique interrupted. "Do you really think that's going to last with him gone? Your protective bubble went up in flames…so-to-speak," she sneered, referring to the Dark Phoenix's destruction.

"You should watch your tongue," Storm snapped at her, offended that she would even bring up Jean and the Professor's death.

"And you should watch your back," Raven replied. "You know what the humans are planning," she continued nonchalantly. "You've been mistreated and judged and discriminated against your entire life, Storm. Surely you don't believe in Charles' outdated theory that given enough time and patience that mutants can work together with humans for a peaceful co-existence, do you? What nonsense!"

"You know nothing about me or my beliefs, Raven, so don't assume that you do," she argued, but wholeheartedly agreeing in every word that spilt from Raven's lips.

"All right, I'm sorry," Raven painfully apologized and leaned back onto the counter and crossed her legs towards Storm. "Look, I know that I have given you every reason to not trust me over the years, but you must know that I pose no danger to you now that I've been shot," she confessed. "When I saw that you had come here tonight, I wanted to try and suspend the fact that we were enemies for so long because I know that this 'cure' was only the beginning of the end of our kind."

"You don't know that," Storm disputed, but didn't believe her own words.

"Yes, I do. I've been alive a lot longer than you, Storm, and I know what is coming for us. The humans will continue to corrupt the mutant race as something to fear rather than embrace, and as their technology and fear escalates, they will come for you and your students just like they came for me. We might have been fighting against each other, but we can't keep doing that if we want to save the mutant race." Raven was quiet for a minute, allowing Storm to digest her words. "Well, I have to get ready to close," she said standing up from the barstool when Storm didn't answer right away.

Storm nodded at her with a weak, awkward smile, but stayed at the bar to think about what Mystique had said. The notion that they were on the same page with one another terrified her. She and Mystique couldn't possibly have been similar, but she _was_ right in many ways.

A few minutes later, Storm got up from the bar and followed the last few customers to the door. Raven, who was waiting for everyone to leave so she could go upstairs to her apartment, met Storm at the door.

"Do you plan on telling your little friends where I am?" Raven asked, leaning against the door and folding her arms over her chest.

"Why would I do that?" Storm answered honestly. It was clear to her that Mystique didn't have any intention of regrouping with the Brotherhood. If anything, she was staying as far away from them as possible. "Look, Mystique…I…" she started, hesitantly. "I'm sorry."

"I don't want your pity, Storm," she spat even though she knew that Storm's Achilles' heel was sympathizing for those less privileged than her and Storm's weakness was Mystique's ticket to becoming her partner.

"I don't pity you, Mystique, but I still can't imagine being without my gifts. Do you think that the cure might be temporary?" She asked, although she shuttered to think what Mystique would become if her mutation ever returned.

"It's all I ever think about," she confessed, vaguely looking down at her white hands and psychically willing them to change back. She looked back to Storm. Despite the undeniable truth of Storm's unique beauty, it was still difficult for Mystique to comprehend her uncanny attraction to her enemy, even if it were for all the wrong reasons. "Did you mean it earlier when you said that I looked nice?" She asked, taking a purposeful step forward.

Storm smirked, shyly dropping her eyes from Mystique's penetrating gaze. "You know you've always been beautiful, Mystique." She looked back up and cocked her head to the side. "But you've also spent your life trying to kill me when all I've tried to do is make a better life for mutants like us," she said.

If Mystique didn't know any better, she'd have been taken by Storm's inclusive comment, knowing Mystique wasn't a mutant anymore. Instead she lowered her blue eyes to absorb Storm's fine feline-like curves and bit her lip to hold herself back from touching her. She took another step forward and hovered slightly over Storm. "I'm not trying to kill you now," she said with an inviting smirk, waiting patiently for her answer.


	3. Chapter 3

Without saying another word, Mystique snapped the lock to her apartment's front door and walked towards her darkened bedroom. The sense of power, manipulation, and the pure want of animalistic sex roared through her veins, knowing that Storm was waiting for her in the other room. Her high heeled boots clicked on the hardwood floors and accelerated with every step. She tore off her shirt and tossed it to the floor as she met with Storm, seizing her mouth with her own and kissing her.

Storm returned her kiss, wanting to forget everything that had happened in the last year and wanting to find one saving grace in Mystique's vindictive persona. But most of all, she wanted to feel something _good_ and touching Mystique was more than satisfying that need. As she kissed Mystique – a terrorist she'd hated and fought against for nearly her entire life – she surrendered to being selfish and reckless. When Storm opened her mouth to invite Mystique in, Mystique more than grabbed the opportunity, pushing her tongue through Storm's teeth and wrapped it around her own, teasing and sucking it. Storm felt increasingly weaker under Mystique's seductive spell and wanted the woman so badly that she easily relinquished any remaining control to her.

Mystique's passion was explosive, but not at all surprising. She'd almost expected it and it was everything she'd secretly thought it would be. The way Mystique touched her, held her, and kissed her was overwhelmingly arousing. Her delicate hands were calculated and meticulous, knowing exactly where Storm ached for contact, and successfully pushing each button right when it needed to be pushed. She pulled Mystique against herself to feel the immaculate body against her own, and felt her stomach knot when Mystique curled her arm around her to pull them even closer.

When the woman's pale hands came around from her back and pushed underneath Storm's silver shirt to massage her breasts, Storm breathed softly into Mystique's ear and ran her fingers through Mystique's jet black hair to encourage her to continue. But Mystique didn't need any encouragement. She knew exactly what she wanted and Storm was making it more than easy for her to control and manipulate her.

Mystique took a few steps forward and pushed the other woman backwards until she hit a dresser. Storm let out a shocked yelp at touching the unfamiliar furniture, but relaxed again when Mystique distracted her with kisses and nips at her neck. Not interested in wasting time, Mystique shifted her hand to the button of Storm's dark jeans.

Storm bit her lip when she felt her jeans become loose around her hips, then dropping to the floor. She guiltily wanted the bitch to touch her. While kissing her neck, Storm took Mystique's hand and guided it down her firm stomach and opened her legs slightly. But instead of doing what she was asked, Mystique pulled away from the sensitive kisses and glared at her, almost angrily, as she moved her hands back under Storm's shirt to aggressively push the mutant further back against the dresser before lifting Storm's tight, silver shirt over her head. When the shirt was dropped, Storm's white and silver hair collapsed back to her shoulders as Mystique bent to kiss her chest, licking the dark skin beneath the lacy edges of her bra.

Storm hoisted herself onto the dresser, and shoved her hands into Mystique's hair and holding her against her breasts, feeling the woman's tongue lap at the curved flesh while she unfastened Storm's bra and let it fall to the floor beside her shirt. Lipstick, mascara, and other items soon followed as they wobbled then tipped over on the dresser before rolling off one at a time. Wrapping one of her legs around Mystique to pull her on top of her other leg, Storm moaned as Mystique did whatever she wanted with her. Mystique stopped kissing Storm's breasts and dropped her hands to grasp Storm's waist. She slowly curled her hips against Storm's thigh, seducing both of them simultaneously by looking Storm directly in the eye, but quickly succumbed to her own selfish cravings. She gently caressed the tanned thigh that was hitched around her hip until Storm tipped her hips forward, lifting Mystique's skirt higher and practically begging Mystique to fuck her.

Mystique snickered and looked down to note Storm's heavy breathing and then back up, returning Storm's pleading eyes with a devilish smirk. She bent over and licked Storm's neck before moving her hand to Storm's inner thigh, eager to touch her, but patient enough to wait; although, Storm's anxious moans were making it difficult for her to resist for much longer. "Is this what you want, Storm?" She whispered.

Mystique's unfamiliar, human voice fell like satin upon Storm's ears. "Yes," she replied, holding onto the beautiful woman for balance on the dresser.

"Yes, what?" Mystique said, teasing the soft skin of Storm's inner thigh with her fingertips.

"Yes…Mystique," Storm sputtered out her name between painfully waiting breaths. "I want to feel you inside of me," Storm whispered, her voice lowering in heavy anticipation as she took hold of Mystique's wrist and pushed it closer, but Mystique resisted still.

Mystique hadn't felt so empowered in a long time. And she wasn't sure if she was hallucinating or not, but as she pressed her fingers against Storm's sex, she was certain something within her was starting to change. She drew a thin line along Storm's neck with her tongue, stopping at her ear and then without even letting Storm have the satisfaction of her skillful fingers within her, Mystique peeled herself off of Storm and ruthlessly tossed her onto the bed behind her.

She sneered at the sexy, begging mutant before crawling up her body like her former serpent self, her blue eyes ablaze as she licked and bit at Storm's exposed flesh before straddling her and grinding herself onto the woman, feeling herself become wet from the desired contact that only another woman could give her. Storm's hands hastily tore off Mystique's black bra as Mystique lowered her mouth to kiss her again, holding either side of her face in her pale hands before scraping her nails down Storm's rib cage, sending hot shivers throughout Storm's body and drawing out shocked cries of pleasure into Mystique's mouth.

Mystique smiled at the prey beneath her and then slithered down Storm's torso, stopping just above her hipbone to lick the tempting dip in her flesh just above the bone. Sharp moans came from the woman beneath her and Mystique felt Storm tangle her fingers back into her black hair. Mystique moved her hand gently beneath the seam of Storm's lingerie to remove it and then eagerly pushed her fingers against her rival's sex. Circling her fingers on the hot, wet skin, Mystique balanced herself above her and watched as Storm's dark eyes glazed over when she raised her hips slightly for more.

"Oh God, Mystique," Storm whimpered, drawing the woman down to kiss her again.

But their kiss was broken when Storm began releasing exquisitely raw sounds as Mystique slipped her fingers into her. Storm's eyes sealed shut as her back arched off the bed, shifting her hips forward so that Mystique could push her fingers deeper still. Mystique complied and felt Storm's entire body undulate in rapture beneath her as she fucked her. Storm cried out again and again until she dug her nails into Mystique's back, pulling the woman on top of her. She curled her neck over Mystique's shoulder and desperately waited to come.

Her eyes opened and although Mystique could not see them, she knew they were as white as her hair against her dark complexion because the moonlight faded when clouds gathered outside of her bedroom window. Mystique's breath was heavier, and she looked away from Storm for only a moment so that she could witness the uncontrollable gusts of wind and splashes of rain that were pummeling her bedroom window. She exulted in Storm's lack of control as she curled two of her fingers within the mutant ever so slightly while pressing her palm against her. "Come for me, Storm," she whispered. Seconds later, Storm's legs tightened and the raven-haired woman listened as Storm cried out Mystique's beautifully chosen name before collapsing beneath her.

Mystique was so enraptured with herself that she wickedly laughed aloud before removing her hand from between Storm's thighs. Holding her down against the pillows, Mystique offered her fingers for Storm to take with her mouth. The weather outside calmed to a quiet rain as Storm sealed her lips around the fingers, closing her eyes and tasting herself. Pushing against the hand that held her down, Storm sat up and gently touched Mystique's breasts as she sucked and licked at her fingers. Cautiously, Storm pulled the woman down with her and wrapped her arms around her as Mystique's dark hair fell over her eyes. Mystique inched forward to lick her own fingers with Storm until she dropped her hand from between their lips, allowing Storm to kiss her.

Lifting her hips long enough to remove any clothing that remained, Mystique rested her hips back upon Storm. She felt Storm take her hips and pull her forward slightly to persuade Mystique to rock against her. Mystique was corrupt with gratification and moaned aloud when Storm's fingers willingly slid to between her thighs, and entered her. Mystique's mouth dropped open, allowing another pleasured moan to escape as her eyes fell backwards into her eyelids, and smiled.

Storm curled and flexed her fingers inside of Mystique repeatedly and listening to the minx let out voracious growls. Feeling empowered against her enemy, Storm aggressively thrust her fingers deeper without warning and Mystique gasped at the sudden force. Mystique's damp hair instantly fell over her eyes as she fell forward and grabbed the headboard for balance as Storm forced herself deeper again. But Mystique started to feel something else within her. Something familiar, but deeper than sex: her rapidly pulsating blood was mutating again. She encased her entire being around the sensation and refused to let go of it. She instinctively ran her hand through her hair and arched her chest forward, feeling everything within her swirl and accelerate.

Mystique was intoxicated with pleasure and her arms grew weak to the point that she was no longer able to hold herself up. She fell on top of Storm, and tangled her fingers into the white hair, tugging on it hard before opening her mouth and abruptly biting into Storm's neck. Storm shrieked in pain, but retaliated against Mystique's attack with harder thrusts of her fingers into the woman. Mystique bit her again and harder as she felt herself coming onto Storm's fingers. But then, distracted by pleasure, Mystique lost control. Storm felt when it happened and instantly flipped her onto the bed, forcing her to her back. It happened so suddenly that when Mystique attempted to sit up or wiggle out from under Storm, the powerful mutant above her shoved her back down onto the bed.

Storm slowed her fingers inside of Mystique and leaned down carefully, knowing she was angry for being taken. "My turn," she said with the slightest hint of arrogance.

Before she could fight back, Storm shoved her fingers into Mystique again and mercilessly worked her towards climax. Mystique was defeated by Storm's ferocity and it made her so weak with submission and she drenched Storm's hand with her sex. Cinching her thighs around Storm, she jerked her hips as she screamed in orgasmic bliss. Unabashed pleasure consumed her and though Mystique's eyes were sealed while she screamed and resisted, Storm watched as Mystique's white hands became pricked with individual blue cells. The color spread quickly and became more and more dominant, flowing down her fingers to her wrist. Storm forced her fingers into the rapidly transforming Mystique one last time and delighted at the mutant's painful cries before gently removing her fingers when the mutant finally relaxed onto the bed.

Mystique panted and laid beside Storm in the darkness. When she moved her hand to her forehead to push her hair out of her eyes, she quickly noted her change in skin color. Shocked and excited, she turned and smiled into the small bedside mirror and watched as her eyes flashed yellow and her black hair melted into red, completing the transformation.

Storm shifted on the bed to sit up and rolled her eyes, chucking lightly at Mystique. "You tricked me, Mystique. I knew you would," she accused.

"How have I tricked you?" Mystique asked, rising from the bed and walking to the window before turning around to look at Storm's alarmingly sexy figure enwrapped in the simple, white bed sheets. Leaning back onto the windowsill, she smiled proudly at the sight of her in her bed.

Storm got out of bed as well and followed Mystique, pulling on her jeans along the way. "I thought you were shot with the cure," she said. "But you appear to be perfectly fine," she said with a smirk.

Storm ran her hand down Mystique's arm before holding her at the waist to feel the unique texture of Mystique's new skin. She'd half expected it to be cold, but it wasn't. It was warm and softer than she'd imagined it to be.

"I _was_ shot, but I guess it was temporary after all," she said with a relieved sigh. Mystique held her pigmented hands into the moonlight and unemotionally admired them, but then changed her cell composition so that she would reappear as Raven. "Would you rather me be Raven?" She asked, gently kissing the skin below Storm's ear and playing with her long, white hair between her fingers.

"No. You're beautiful as Mystique," Storm replied as Raven morphed back into Mystique. However, Storm was unable to hold her gaze into the vibrantly colored eyes she'd grown to hate for long. She suddenly realized that she'd made a mistake. "I should get back," she said, stepping away from her.

"Of course you should," Mystique replied bitterly.

Storm sighed as she pulled on her bra and shirt that lay in front of the dresser. "It has nothing to do with you, Mystique," she lied. When she heard the woman snicker in disbelief at her comment, she turned around to face the woman that for many years had all but tried to eliminate her existence, but had now given her all that she'd asked for and more not even thirty minutes ago. "It's not like you were expecting this to last, were you?"

"Of course not," Mystique said with a derisive snicker. "I know you have children to look after and guide. The only question is in which direction will you lead them, Storm?"

Storm's stomach knotted upon realizing the cunning game Mystique had played with her that evening. She'd made her sympathetic and had even convinced her of certain points of view.

She reached her hand to touch Mystique's cobalt cheek. "Leave me to decide that, Mystique," she answered softly.

"I was counting on it, Storm. I just hope that you don't leave here only for us to resume our relationship as mortal enemies. We don't need to live that way anymore." Mystique ran her fingers through Storm's hair tenderly. "Just because this cure was temporary doesn't mean that the humans won't perfect it and then require it of us all," she said. "Like you, I don't want to see that happen to our kind. Surely you must realize the potential of what an amazing team we could be if we were no longer adversaries."

Storm smiled shyly, but dropped her eyes. "Of course I do," she said nodding. "But it can never happen," she said looking back up to the depraved but perhaps misunderstood golden eyes. "I don't want to hate you, Mystique, but I know you're going to make that very difficult for me. But you will never change...and neither will I."

Mystique held Storm's gaze and nodded at her, understanding. "You should probably go then," she said it as a simple matter of fact that they were both aware of.

Storm smiled at her weakly. "Yeah," she admitted, taking a step away from her towards the front door.

Not getting very far, Storm turned around and hesitantly reached her hand around Mystique's neck and drew her into a final kiss, parting her lips slightly to save the taste of her into memory. She felt Mystique's hand hold her at the small of her back, pulling her close as her lips sealed around her own. When Mystique released her, she looked down at Storm as cold and indifferently as she always had before, then turned around to look out the window. Mystique never once looked back or said a word of goodbye as Storm silently made her way out of the apartment and back to the life she knew at Xavier's mansion.


End file.
